Surfing Waves

I began surfing 6 years ago. I had never lived at the beach and was 31 years old. I had been a competitive ball and stick athlete even through college. After finishing competitive athletics I got in really bad shape and dealt with depression and some substance abuse issues. Eventually my wife and I had enough and pulled our entire retirement and moved to the coast without even having work lined up.

I decided I was going to surf, with zero knowledge of the sport other than loving the aesthetic. I did some research and got a 9'9 longboard. First time out just paddling on flat water was a wobbly mess. My previous athletic experience and physical ability was clearly going to be of no immediate help.

6 years later I was smacking the lip repeatedly on a thruster in a foreign paradise. I have to thank this forum in many ways. The learning progression that is advised repeatedly on this board from training to board selection to wave selection to technical tips is essentially spot on. I have finally hit a point of fearless (fairly) mentality, and well established muscle memory.

For all beginners stick with it. Listen to advice on this forum. Eventually it will all come together , but damn, surfing is difficult, but obtainable, and worthwhile. I would compare it to learning guitar. Not learning a song, but truly learning an entire instrument inside and out. It takes that level of dedication. Embrace being a kook for a while, but show respect to the surfers who have followed through on the journey. If you do you will be given respect back.

Through my pursuit of surfing, I have returned to good health, I have kicked addiction, I have found new faith, I have become an advanced practicer of yoga,I have learned much of a foreign language, i have had sore shoulders, I have met amazing people and lifelong friends, I have had sore shoulders some more, I have replaced competitive cravings with peaceful elation, I have traveled to amazing places. I see a more beautiful world. I still have sore shoulders.

I encourage all beginners to stick with it. Surfing will take you places you didn't even know you wanted to go. If it was easy The views there wouldn't be so damn amazing.

Wow , great to hear and that is why I give advice, to see this sort of result.
I feel as good about this as I do about any great wave I've had.
Stoked for You.
Jaffa

You need to listen to your body and take care of your shoulders or it will shorten your surfing life

I ditto jaffa.

I hope you come and contribute to the forum, seems like you have the ideal knowledge and understanding

Fantastic Onelove, thanks for coming and posting about your experience. I second dtc, and hope you'll pass on your knowledge those new to surfing who are in the position you were in 6 years ago.

oldmansurfer wrote:You need to listen to your body and take care of your shoulders or it will shorten your surfing life

My right shoulder is pretty well shot from pitching in baseball for 15 years. I have greatly improved it through yoga. I kind of accept Yoga is going to be a part of my life as long as I want to surf. Luckily, I enjoy it, and my wife is a yoga teacher by trade. Basically I surf, my shoulder is grinding when I'm done. I go and practice yoga for an hour and it is a lot better. Practice Again the next day and I feel solid enough to go at it again. It is difficult to hit it every day in a straight stretch like during a surf trip, but I'm smart enough to rest. I also go out and paddle flat water if I haven't been able to surf working on proper form, breathing, and developing muscle memory. I make sure I am paddling twice a week minimum, even if it's just the flat water and not surfing. The 5-7 day a week yoga practice is critical to managing the injury, and is beneficial in all areas of my health. Knowing it helps my surfing makes it easy to put the time in every day.

Any other suggestions for the shoulder I am all ears.

Onelove wrote:

oldmansurfer wrote:You need to listen to your body and take care of your shoulders or it will shorten your surfing life

Any other suggestions for the shoulder I am all ears.

These exercises help me:

I guess if you are not getting any worse then maybe what you are doing is ok. Perhaps shortening your surf sessions might help. What I do know is that lots of guys who surfed a lot when they were younger eventually had to quit or go to SUPs due to sore shoulders mostly. I know one guy who had neck problems that forced him to quit because surfing made it worse. I know one guy who is a die hard shortboarder. He didn't want to stop and ended up physically being unable to surf and needed shoulder surgeries. He didn't like SUPs or longboards and those were absolutely out of the picture. He quit for a while but I heard he recently started back up on an oldman board like what I use which is basically a big shortboard. I know some old guys who still surf shortboards but they switch up with SUPs or longboards or guns because of shoulder problems. In my current circumstances I don't have time to surf too much so my shoulders have been great although I can feel some tightness after a session by the next time I am good to go. I only surf for around 30 to 45 minutes a session.

Yeah, I already ride a big thruster. 6'8. I like the extra volume, and have learned to get it out despite trouble duck diving. I'm very patient with timing getting out. I like how the extra size lets me surf smaller days. I'm not interested in a tiny board. I have fun riding mine and my next board will be shaped very very similar. I'm not gonna get surgery on my shoulder, or even check it out. I'm going to continue improving it and fixing the pathology with dedicated yoga.

It gets sore , but not any more damaged. I don't paddle like crazy until catching waves, and don't sprint to get to different peaks. I patiently wait knowing it will keep me out longer. I'm checking out the videos posted above on shoulder work too. I don't know if it is good for my situation or not. Regardless, I'm satisfied to get sore and recover for now, but I'm always open to better options.